What the hell is a lovage?

About 5 years ago, I went for a walk in the local community garden patch. I ran across what looked like a giant 10 foot tall parsley plant. I took a leaf. It tasted like a mix of celery and parsley. It had a citrus/anise like zing to it as well. I was fascinated.

The plant was growing in about a 10 foot diameter. It was giant. I learned that every part of the plant is edible. The leaves are an herb, the stalk a vegetable, and the seeds are a spice. In fact, celery salts you buy in the store often contain lovage due to the potent celery flavor it has.

The plant is in the Apiaceae family with celery, parsnips, carrots, and parsley. Native to Southern Europe, it was widely used in ancient Roman cooking. Romans used ground black pepper and lovage seed. This mixture seasoned their food more than any other spice at that time.

I had some room to grow one, so I ordered some lovage seeds. It’s was hard to germinate. I not getting a seed started, and gave up. A few months later near fall, I saw some tiny red shoots coming up. I was surprised it took hold. I doubted it would take hold. I tried multiple places. Then I dumped the rest behind the garden bed. All had shoots coming up the next spring. Oh oh.

The next spring, the red shoots arrived in early March. They looked like asparagus with a green leaf cluster. The growth was crazy rapid and by May was nearly 10 feet tall. It looked like a parsley on steroids.

They do spread, so this spring I am seeing the clusters begin to join. I am guessing that once in full bloom, they will be about 15 feet in diameter. It’s straight from Jurassic park.

By this time, the stalks are very tough and stringy. This toughness helps them hold up so high. The leaves become bitter. I did harvest the seeds once dried and LOVE putting them on a roast chicken

The next spring I made sure to take advantage of the young shoots before they toughen up. I discovered that King Charles grows lovage and enjoys a lovage soup.

What I did was make what would be close to a potato leek soup but used lovage instead. The result was an amazing celery like flavor. It’s really, really easy to make.

This soup is a keeper. Here’s how I made it.

CREAM OF LOVAGE SOUP

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

• 1 tbsp butter
• 6 green onions , chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 ounces lovage stems with leaves, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes, chopped
• 4 -5 cups vegetable stock (depending on consistency)
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat butter in soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onion, green onions, celery stalks, lovage, and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add potatoes and vegetable broth and bring up to a boil
4. Cover, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes
5. Remove from heat and blend with a stick blender
6. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
7. I topped them off with some roasted and crumbled lovage leaves to give it a nice look.

Serve with some garlic bread for dipping!

This is purely a springtime treat. I make sure to make it before the stalks become tough.

OPA!!